August Uncommon Tea

Its funny how our tastes can change over the years. I initially got into teas via flavored ones. I then moved on to pure teas, realizing that a really good tea was a delight all of its own. And for some reason, this fall I am drawn back to flavored ones.

The description of this tea sounded intriguing, but the presence of Lapsang Souchong made me nervous. I am not a fan of smoked anything. Mildly smoked pork is ok, but anything else is pretty gross. I have another smoky tea that I can’t stand and has never been used beyond the first cup.

But this was my first August Uncommon pourchase and I had an introduction 20% off code I wanted to make good use of. I have also not consumed sugar in any form for almost 7 years and I rarely make use of alternative sweeteners (months can go between uses). My options were limited. So i bought it anyway, telling myself you never know for sure until you try. And I’m glad I did.

The smoky flavor is mild, barely a hint, which helps a lot. There is a slight taste and smell of toffee. Nothing strong or overpowering, but it is there and its quite pleasant. None of the various flavors overpower or dominate over any of the others. This can actually be a failing in others where the flavors drown out the tea base itself. I feel Golden Arrow has a very nice balance that is so rare to find.

I also have to give kudos to August Uncommon in that they allow one to search based upon criteria such as sugar free. I very much appreciate not having to guess on which teas may or may not be safe for my consumption. (T2 diabetic. Just because sugar won’t kill me today doesn’t mean it won’t kill me in 20 years. Seriously, go on, have a little arsenic. You won’t fall over dead today, so obvious it must be safe.)

I have 6 teas from 2017, this being one of them. I gathered them all into a box and decided that before I can enjoy my other teas, I will have to have a cup of one of these teas. This particular teas I have a lot of so it will take time to work through. Figured I would get started.

This tea is fine. Smokey and leathery but fine. It doesn’t have much going on beyond that though. Perhaps its age is at play. Though the last cup I got toffee and that’s not happening here. Honestly, this may find its way into my swap box since it’s alright but I just don’t really want to drink that much of it…

I put off drinking this for so long since it’s never really well received. However, as one of the oldest teas in my stash, I figured I should at least try it. I was surprised that the first sip actually had the burnt toffee flavor August Uncommon promises. The next mouthful was just lapsang and one that was sort of metallic. It seems the key is small sips. It’s fine but not something I really care for.

Very smooth consistency. Lemony flavor.

I don’t know if this tea has changed, or if my taste has changed, but I really didn’t care for this last cup. I haven’t had it for quite awhile, but there are no creme brûlée/caramel notes, just something slightly medicinal over the smoke.

This cup was not as tasty as previous cups. The caramelized flavor that’s usually layered on top of the smokiness was replaced by a strong medicinal flavor in this cup.

Sipdown 26-2021
Ended up drinking what I had remaining this morning. Very sad sipdown.

Smoke, burnt caramel, delicious. Almost out and very sad about it. Definitely need to restock eventually.

Made this at work again today and it’s just so, so tasty. Enjoyed it with my first Cranberry Bliss bar of the season and the super sweetness of the bar worked really well with the smokiness of the tea. Definitely made for a nice break.

Halloween is my favorite time of year. Honestly, I celebrate like it’s Halloween all year, but I get especially excited in October. I generally take Halloween off, but couldn’t this year. Sad. Still a good day, nonetheless. Ended it with watching some appropriately themed movies, and eating pumpkin cheesecake.
As for the tea, this cup was particularly tasty. Wisps of smoke that work so well with the vanilla/caramel notes that are coming through particularly strong in this cup.

I haven’t had a cup of this in awhile, but it’s still quite tasty. Adding honey brings out the toffee notes and mellows out the sweetness a bit.

This is one of the August Uncommon blends that I’ve repurchased. It’s extremely comforting, and though it’s something I generally like to reserve for cooler weather, I decided to brew up a cup this morning. Smoke and burnt sugar notes, the addition of a bit of honey enhances the creme brûlée experience and makes the smoke more mild.

This is a nice one to drink all afternoon. It’s a white puerh, and it’s not my absolute favourite one (I have a cake of my fav!), but it’s nice and sweet and the leaves look cool.

Yum.

At least puer teas age well, even the white ones! This is delicious although I oversteeped it at 1 min. I did a quick rinse, then 1 min at 165F. I’ll do 1-2 more steeps as I finish up my work and then the presentation I’m doing for class tonight. Heh. Yeah, I haven’t written it yet.

Soft, sweet, fruity, and then tannin.

Sadly about half my tin ended up as a sacrifice to the floor gods. Oh well, I’ll savour what I have left then maybe break into one of the other 5 (est) white puer I have.

Yum. This tea is still so good!

I rearranged my kitchen cupboards which necessitated rearranging my teas, and I found this one.

I still really like it. Why haven’t I drank it more? No clue. I would order from them again if… oh hey, they are now offering “15-cup” bags for about $10. It looks like they’re not doing those seasonal releases in tins only! Oh, I might be able to pick up some of my favourite herbals. I’ll have to see where I’m at with drinking up all my no caffeine teas before I work teas into my budget again…

Admittedly, I’ve been putting off this tea because I had remembered it as a little underwhelming. I steeped it up a few days ago though and it pulled my attention so strongly! Yes, it did taste like chocolate and hazelnut in a Nutella adjacent way, but what I enjoyed and found the most stand out was how deeply the aroma of the steeped tea reminded me of perfectly toasted mashmallows. Just, like, the exact right combo of caramelized sugar and creamy ‘mallow goo. It even translated into the taste of the tea! I felt like I was drinking more of a S’mores profile than anything else.

Tell you what, I’ll be remembering that cup for a while!

Oversteeped, but it was still nice – more hazelnut than chocolate, which is the balance I want out of a chocolate and hazelnut blend. The flavour of the nut is way more interesting to me, and harder to convey, whereas I can get a chocolate tea just about anywhere…

Also, am I crazy or didn’t this tea used to have a longer name!?

Sipped on this a few nights back and just really allowed myself to melt into and enjoy the mug. Pretty black licorice/anise forward flavour but with a warm and almost “baked” feeling almond-y finish. Like a Danish almond puff pastry. Just a hint of orange, but in a more aromatic and slightly floral way. Everything was so well balanced and it felt rich and indulgent without leaning into the typical caramel or chocolate type flavours.

Sipping on this one currently!

In ingredients list alone I felt pretty confidant that I would enjoy this tea; boozy almond with orange and anise!? Yes please! Even the dry leaf smelled very appetizing to me. However, steeped up I’m finding the taste to be a little much. It’s not that any of the present flavours taste bad – in fact they’re all quite lovely! The almond/amaretto is really clear and coating on the palate but not artificial/chemical or too concentrated, the anise is sweet and licorice-y with a hint of warming spice but doesn’t mask the other flavours, and the orange is delicate and floral.

The main issue here is that it’s simply too much when all together. Single out any two of these flavours and this would be a good tea – but all three together is very rich and really coating on the palate, so they all linger for a VERY long time after each sip. That is often a reoccurring theme to AU blends; there’s just so much going on!

I will revisit and see if this is something I adjust to with subsequent steepings, but right now I just feel a little bit impartial towards it as a blend.

Thanks so much for the excellent swap, derk! Some amazing teas that I have wanted to try in that package, including the first I’ve ever been able to try from August Uncommon! So very thrilled for that.  I tried this a few days ago, late on the tasting note, but I was drinking this from derk and Yeti from Annie and was feeling quite tea spoiled!!  I’m grateful to Steepster for all the tea buds and the oceans of tea I’ve been able to try over the years because of those tea buds. 
This is GOOD.  A great tea to have on hopefully one of the last colder days of the season.  Apple, yet also savory from the clove and fennel on a lighter black tea base. I love to find an occasional fennel tea.   I debated using two teaspoons for a BIG mug to finish the sample off but I’m glad I didn’t, as the flavor is certainly full and lingering in the mouth long enough to only use one teaspoon. Now I have the extra teaspoon for another day. A great introduction to August Uncommon!
Steep #1  // 1 teaspoon for a mug // 22 minutes after boiling  // 2 minute steep
Steep #2  // 3 minutes after boiling //  3 min steep

It was a nice refreshing, herbal tea. I think it was better cold.